President Trump has released his first budget proposal, and it contains cuts to many education programs. Among these: after-school programs and college affordability programs. At the same, time, the budget would increase investment in federal school choice programs. The plan has generated significant media coverage, focused largely on negative outcomes should the plan come to fruition. Education Week noted that the proposal “seeks to slash the Education Department’s roughly $68 billion budget by $9 billion, or 13 percent in the coming fiscal year, whacking popular programs that help districts offer after-school programs and hire and train teachers.” The proposal also “seeks a historic $1.4 billion federal investment in school choice, including new money for private school vouchers and charter schools, as well as directing $1 billion to follow students to the school of their choice.” The plan would eliminate Title II spending, “which is currently funded at $2.25 billion and helps states and districts hire and provide professional development for teachers.” the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program would also be scrapped, eliminating “after-school and extended-learning programs.”

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the federal law that replaced No Child Left Behind and requires states to develop plans that address academic standards, assessments, school accountability and assistance for struggling schools.

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) spent months gathering public input from more than 15,000 Ohioans before releasing its draft plan. Educators, parents, students and community members sent a clear message about how the state’s draft plan was not responsive to their concerns.

Released in early February, the state’s draft plan was open for public comment until March 6. Despite having a September deadline for submission, ODE had stated its intent to proceed with its submission of the plan in April—five months before the deadline.

State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria announced today that the Department “will delay the ESSA submission to the U.S. Department of Education to September.”

The New York Times reports that Congress has approved legislation “to repeal crucial regulations associated with the Every Student Succeeds Act, one of President Barack Obama’s final legislative achievements.” The Times focuses on the bipartisan effort to approve ESSA in 2015 and contrasts that bill with its predecessor, NCLB. The piece explains that it is “customary for federal agencies to issue detailed regulations on how new laws should be put into effect,” but notes that “some lawmakers from both parties saw” ED’s regulations “as unusually aggressive and far-reaching, and said they could subvert ESSA’s intent of re-establishing local control over education and decreasing the emphasis on testing.”